Idea Outline
Crowdcare for the Tiber river in Rome.
People and wildlife are returning to the Thames, Seine and Rhine. We can do the same for the Tiber - and many European waters - through web services letting everyone participate in the care of the river.

The Challenge
Our beautiful Tiber river is sick. Fecal and industrial pollution reaches 40 times acceptable limits and rubbish and used absorbent hygiene products scatter Mediterranean beaches for kilometres from the river mouth. The Tiber is not cared for as a leisure, environmental or business resource and the users and organisations with a role in its welfare are scattered over six regions alongs its 400km length. An open crowd based approach will enable our large community of riverwatch stakeholders come together to track water quality and to create and implement actions to improve it. Many rivers systems in Europe could benefit from better river care. If successful, the award from this competition will be used to design the crowdcare solution and initiate the development work.

The Solution

Crowdcare for the Tiber river in Rome.
RiverWatch/Tevere will be a web platform allowing people and organisations geo-navigate the river online, crowdshare information about it, tag and comment items of interest, access water quality data and initiate and pursue actions together to clean it up. It will combine features of GoogleMaps, Kickstarter, HuffPost and Facebook in an exciting online incubator-accelerator of rivercare projects. Concrete targets for water quality will be set and the actions needed to reach these targets will be supported and tracked by the RiverWatch/Tevere crowd. To be effective the solution requires a mix of appealing web services and the active involvement of the many supporter organisations already on board. It can then be replicated to lots more waterways.

Target group and social impact
RiverWatch/Tevere will enable leisure users, public agencies, researchers, businesses, fishermen, farmers, environmental custodians and legislators share knowledge and contribute in a participative and constructive way in improved river care. It will be good for the very many people who swim in - and eat the fish from - the Mediterranean. If clean and trusted the Tiber will be a wonderful asset for the people, the environment and the economy. RiverWatch/Tevere will be transferable to other river systems in Europe as well as to other complex socio-economic situations. Effective stakeholder involvement is already part of the project as can be seen from the many letters of support received from public and environmental agencies, user associations, media, university faculties and firms.

Competences of the applicant
James is a Roman Irish engineer and an expert in web services, process and organisational design. He makes his living in innovation in science and industry. His children were born on the river's Tiber Island in Rome. In this project he will be supported by the Consorzio Tiberina, the Sapienza University, the Kyoto Club, the WWF, and many more. About him: be.linkedin.com/in/jkcogan/

Good initiative Jim! I have always thought the Tiber and its banks could be exploited much more especially in a town that receives millions of tourists every year + 4 million inhabitants. Estate romana is already a great initiative. But more can and needs to be done. See what they do in Paris (bateaubus, diner boat on the Seine etc.). Let's make it happen. Ron